brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. tonight, a stunning offer from north korea to the united states. ready to talk about no nukes. and the u.s. president reacts with guarded optimism. >> we have come certainly a long way, at least rhetorically, with north korea. it would be a great thing for the world, it would be a great thing for north korea, it would be a great thing for the peninsula. brent: that, as the leaders of the two koreas agree to meet face-to-face in april. also coming up, growing entry tonight. british police decontaminate the site where a former russian spy collapsed after being exposed to a mystery substance. he is now in critical condition. and a refugee crisis in south america. tonight, a special report on venezuelans fleeing their country's economic crisis into neighboring colombia.

the story of their daily struggle just to survive. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. it's good to have you with us. we start with a stunning offer from north korea to the united states. ready to meet and ready to talk about getting rid of nuclear weapons. the north has agreed to hold a summit in late april that would include the leaders of both countries. this unexpected turn of events coming just a day after a south korea delegation met with the north korean leader in pyongyang. it was kim jong-un's first-ever face-to-face with south korean officials since taking power. reporter: images from north korean state television. president kim jong-un welcomes south korea's national security chief and four other special

envoys from seoul. kim told them he wants to write a new history of national reunification. and this is what the first chapter should look like. the two sides are planning a meeting for their heads of state in late april, the first summit in 11 years. but that's not all. according to south korean sources, kim is prepared to suspend nuclear and missile tests while dialogue is underway and is reported to have said there is no reason for north korea to have nuclear weapons if he gets security guarantees for his regime. he also hinted at dialogue with the united states. u.s. president donald trump reacted on twitter. he cited possible progress, but warned it could be false hope. the u.s. is, he says, ready to go hard in either direction. south korea's president moon jae-in reacted with caution. >> we must talk to north korea

in order to denuclearize the korean peninsula, but at the same time we must put maximum effort into establishing effective measures against north korean nuclear weapons and missiles. reporter: meanwhile, north korea is broadcasting these images. kim and his wife hosting his guests at a banquet as if it were a family get-together. and as if there were no nuclear conflict, no missile tests, and no u.n. sanctions. brent: there's a lot to unpack with this story. to do that i'm joined at the big table by bernhard bartsch, an asian affairs expert. it is good to have you on the show. all right, let's talk about what we just heard from the u.s. president. president trump, he has just been speaking the last couple of minutes talking about this offer from north korea. take a listen to what he had to say. >> we have come certainly a long way, at least rhetorically, with

north korea. it would be a great thing for the world, it would be a great thing for north korea, it would be a great thing for the peninsula. brent: a great thing for the peninsula. how do you read that? bernhard: well, it would be a great thing for the peninsula if anything of substance actually happened, but nothing has happened so far. north korea has offered to talk about basically anything, but they have done that in the past. so for the time being, i would be very skeptical and not really call it very much of an offer. brent: so guarded optimism, in your opinion, is the way to move forward. what do you think is motivating the north korean leader to do this? i mean, i am just wondering if they ever do sit down with the americans, is either side going to be willing to compromise? bernhard: i think north korea is under a lot of pressure. they have these sanctions, which are crippling. they need money, even if kim

jong-un doesn't care very much about the majority of his people, he cares about his elites who want imports, cars and food and other things. that is one thing. then don't forget that until a couple of weeks ago we were talking about a real threat of war breaking out on the peninsula. north korea does not want that. other than that, i think this is the rhythm of escalation and de-escalation we have seen for a long time. brent: but there is progress because just two weeks ago we were talking about the possibility of war. now we are talking about the possibility of talks. bernhard: absolutely. if you look at the war scenario, then this is a big improvement. if you are looking at actually denuclearizing north korea, nothing has happened much. but of course there is the hope that something might happen and that they might come to their senses. brent: and the united states has given north korea security guarantees before under u.s. president clinton. for example, written guarantees.

so if north korea is asking for that again, why should we believe that they would follow through and get rid of their nuclear program? because we have been there before. bernhard: that's the tricky thing. both sides are very suspicious of each other. and there's not much reason actually to believe that north korea would be giving up their nuclear weapons, because they handle them as the life insurance for their system. so it would have to be a very big agreement that they would be talking about. and north korea actually has not spelled out what they really want, so it is really very speculative. brent: and what about what is surrounding north korea? i am thinking about russia. i was reading today that north korea is looking at the geopolitical map and thinks that it is a safer bet now to make friends with the u.s. because russia could end up being a

greater threat to its survival. would these say to -- what do you say to that? bernhard: russia is a big factor, china is a very big factor. north korea is suspicious of all of its neighbors. it wants a stronger position. it has gained this position through the weapons but it is still poor. but it is situated in a location where it actually could be very rich. so now it is trying desperately to somehow cash in but it needs cooperation from its neighbors to do that. brent: bernhard bartsch here in berlin, we appreciate the time it took for us here. -- you took for us here. here are some other stories making headlines around the world. a truck carrying 22 tons of hydrochloric acid has collided with a train in the u.s. state of pennsylvania, spilling the highly corrosive cargo. nearby residents were evacuated to safety as hazardous materials teams closed off the area where

the incident happened. the driver of the truck was taken to a hospital with injuries. reports say at least 68 people have been killed as the syrian government resumed airstrikes on eastern ghouta near damascus. a cease-fire was agreed upon last month, but it is only in place for five hours each day. the russian military has offered rebels safe passage out of the area, but rebels have turned that offer down. a russian transport plane has people on board. syrian state media citing the russian defense ministry say that the plane crashed at russia's khmeimim air base in northern syria and was likely caused by technical failure. britain says that it will respond appropriately and robustly to any russian involvement in the apparent poisoning of a former spy. sergei skripal, an ex-russian

intelligence officer who also spied for britain, became critically ill on sunday along with his daughter. police are trying to identify the unknown substance that left the two unconscious in the southern city of salisbury. reporter: police cordoned off the part of the salisbury park where sergei skripal and his daughter were found critically ill on sunday. investigators are now busy trying to determine the nature of the unknown substance the two victims were exposed to. >> as you are aware, we declared a major incident yesterday after a man and woman were taken seriously ill in salisbury on sunday. they both remain in a critical condition and our thoughts and best wishes remain with their families during this difficult time. reporter: it was after eating a meal at this local restaurant that a resident found skripal

violently ill on a nearby bench. >> then the man started throwing up. it was weird. it wasn't like when someone normally throws up. you could see that he was visually throwing up but his throat was not moving. vomit was just pouring out of his mouth. reporter: the kremlin has denied knowledge of the incident, with a spokesman describing it as a tragic situation. but british policy makers are suspicious, linking this incident to the death of another former russian spy. >> honorable members will note the echoes of the death of alexander litvinenko in 2006. and while it would be wrong to pre-judge the investigation, i can reassure the house that should evidence emerge that implies state responsibility, then her majesty's government will respond appropriately and robustly. reporter: skripal was a colonel in russia's

military intelligence service. back in 2004 he was arrested in russia and convicted of spying for britain two years later. in 2010, he was freed as part of a high-level spy exchange. british counterterrorism specialists have now taken charge of the investigation, but a spokesman said they are keeping an open mind about the nature of the incident. brent: bill browder is a former banker who used to live in moscow, but the murder of his attorney turned him into a prominent kremlin critic. he believes the russian government is behind the killing. he has written a book detailing what it is like to be on president putin's bad side. bill: the one thing you should understand about putin is that he kills traitors. it is very important for him to do that because he has a lot of people who are not particularly well motivated that work for him in all the security services. they don't work for him out of

love. they don't work for him out of money because they steal money. or they work for him out of fear because they are afraid once they get into it, that any exit will cause problems. and so putin has to create these vicious circumstances for traitors. they did that with alexander litvinenko, who was murdered in london with polonium back 10 years ago, more than 10 years ago. and they have done that with other people all over the world. this is -- for anybody who is a traitor, is meted out the most harsh punishment. it doesn't matter if they are in a foreign country or russia, this is the kind of thing that happens to traitors. brent: that was bill browder speaking with us earlier. colombia is facing one of the world's biggest and least talked about migration crises. more than half a million venezuelans have crossed the

colombian border, fleeing a political crisis and poverty at home. colombia's government has tightened the border and warned venezuelan immigrants that they could destabilize the country. dw's ofelia harms arruti reports from bogota. ofelia: it is one of the biggest bus stations in bogota. every day, dozens of venezuelans gather here to eat, talk, or simply enjoy each other's company. most came to bogota on their own, leaving family and friends back home. >> i have two little boys, twins that are four years old. just imagine, staying in venezuela would have meant letting us all star feared -- all starve. i suffer from hypertension and it was not easy to get my medication. reporter: she now sells candy inside the so-called trans millennial busses which she can jump on and off with just a single ticket. >> yes, i'm another venezuelan

who came to this country to try to move on. i know this is annoying for you because there are lots of us here. reporter: she is trying to sell enough of these chocolate bars to pay for her boy's birthday party back home, though she will not be able to be there herself. and she is not the only one selling chocolate. this man is 20 years old and arrived in colombia a month ago. he feels embarrassed but needs to sell at least two boxes of chocolate a day to make ends meet. >> i worked for an entire year to gather the money to come here. i was studying computer engineering, but i had to migrate because of the situation. i am here trying to help my parents. from what i earn, i send them at least 30,000 colombian pesos a week. reporter: that's about $10. in venezuela, a lot of money. but here in colombia, you can barely feed a family for a day. locals working outside the official system are finding it hard to share their customers with hundreds of new

competitors. >> my income is not the same anymore. we used to make 70,000, 80,000. now we barely make 30,000 or 20,000. we have to find something else. ofelia: the colombian economy has struggled over the last four years, with oil prices dropping on the international market. this has led to rising unemploymentand ever more people working outside the system. >> depending on how you look at it, about 50% of the colombian labor market is informal. that is, outside the official sector. and venezuelans are coming in with different types of informal businesses, especially on the streets, and with entertainment activities. they do jobs that don't require special permission or

bureaucratic processes, like in the financial sector or commercial business. ofelia: no one knows exactly how many of the venezuelans here plan to stay. some say about 100,000 into colombia every month. that could mean over one million by the end of the year. and this means not only instability for the unprepared colombian economy, but also the threat of a major humanitarian crisis. brent: we want to pull in now our correspondent, ofelia harms arruti. she joins us from bogota. ofelia, it is good to see you. looking at your report, a lot of hear about this migration crisis between venezuela and colombia. how big of a problem is this for colombia? ofelia: well, this is certainly the biggest migration wave this country has ever seen. and its infrastructure is not

ready to hold all of these people. according to colombian laws, a migrant, you have the right to access medical care and education. and what we're seeing is that especially in the bordering towns, hospitals and schools are collapsing. we see people sleeping on the streets. we have seen an increase in crime rate. we see increasing prostitution. and this whole situation is threatening to increase also political instability and social conflict, only 15 months after the colombian government and the former farc rebel group have signed a peace deal. and this area that these former -- this former rebel group are leaving are also being taken over by other criminal groups that are said to be recruiting very young venezuelans, underaged venezuelans that are arriving here with no opportunities. brent: so what is the colombian

government's plan? what are they planning to do with all of these migrants? ofelia: well, the first steps have been to increase controls at the border. we see thousands of new security personnel deployed in this area. the landline is quite perilous. we see a lot of venezuelans still entering without permission, without a passport. the government has also stopped issuing these day passes that used to, or still allow venezuelans to come into this country and stay here for a couple of hours and buy food and medical supplies, and then go back to venezuela, because some of them have been staying with this day pass that is not supposed to give them this permission. the government has also stopped issuing the temporary visas that allow venezuelans to stay here up to two years. these last visas were given away a few weeks ago. and what the foreign ministry is

trying to do is now to start an obligatory registration, because no one really knows how many are really here to stay. and obviously a lot of people are fearing mass deportations. the official number so far in 2018 is just 150, but people fear that the real numbers are much, much higher. brent: our correspondent ofelia harms arruti reporting tonight from bogota. ofelia, thank you very much. you're watching "dw news," live from berlin. still to come -- ♪ brent: the german national anthem, a song that praises amongst other things, the fatherland. but for how much longer? we will look at efforts to make the national anthem gender-neutral. but first, it's time to talk

about resistance to donald trump's steel tariffs from within his own republican party. daniel: that's right. as if criticism from within the white house, from his very own advisors were not enough it is crunch time for the u.s. president as republicans call for clarity on those new steel and aluminum tariffs. those, he said, would come as soon as this week. some dismissed his comments as bluster and a bargaining tactic, but the eu has already announced a hit list of counter-tariffs which targets key republican districts. plenty of reason then for politicians to take the president's threats not just seriously, but personally. reporter: the top republican in congress urged the trump administration to take a more targeted approach to protective terrorists. paul ryan's suggestion comes as a number of republicans break ranks with the president's plan for sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum. >> there is clearly abuse occurring. clearly there is overcapacity

dumping in transshipping of steel and aluminum by some countries, particularly china. but i think the smarter way to go is to make it more surgical and more targeted. reporter: ryan called president trump's planned tariffs too broad and prone to retaliation. instead, he proposed going after what he called the true abusers, without setting off a global trade war. some replican lawmakers fear a tit-for-tat could hurt their chances in midterm elections this november. many of them represent constituencies that might suffer job losses from retaliatory tariffs against u.s. products. daniel: let's head back over the pond. this year's geneva motor show gets underway with the industry shaping up for its biggest transition since ford began mass production 110 years ago. but it is a revolution in slow motion. some observers say the industry is still proving the distant -- resistant to inevitable change. reporter: this is what britain's

jaguar is offering up in the race to electro-mobility. the i-pace is a battery-operated suv that the company hopes could put it in the same category as u.s. electric drive by and year -- drive pioneer tesla. but not every carmaker in geneva is ready to go fully electric. the new a6 from audi features a mild hybrid power system. its main focus is on attracting buyers who can afford to pay for luxury. expensive, glossy cars with a nod to increasing environmental awareness and regulation. but when it comes to real innovation, this year's geneva motor show has left some experts disappointed. >> we currently see all the so-called -- so suv's, more power than ever before. some electric cars. but no really new concepts

around mobility services is what we are missing again at the geneva motor show. reporter: there was one notable exception. dust company unveiled the world's first-ever commercially available flying car. and with first deliveries expected later this year, the contraption certainly appears ready for takeoff. daniel: toyota has profited from the recent dieselgate scandal. last year their sales in europe rose dramatically, almost doubling sales of hybrid cars in the eu. now toyota is going all-in by scrapping production of diesels. but just as european car companies are making a show of switching to electric as a source of cleaner energy, japanese manufacturers are turning to hydrogen. reporter: symbolically unified by a common goal. many of japan's business leaders are taking part, including the ceo's of toyota, honda and nissan, as well as the ceo's of oil and gas companies. the 12 companies plan on working together to make hydrogen the fuel of the future.

coinciding with the meeting, toyota announced a complete stop to diesel sales in europe. it is the company's reaction to the diesel emission scandal triggered by volkswagen in 2015. since then, diesel technology has lost its positive image, especially due to its polluting nitrogen oxide emissions. so far, toyota has profited from the diesel affair. last year the company's sales in europe rose dramatically and it almost doubled sales of hybrid cars. the japanese now intend to take advantage of their expertise and market share on the hybrid front, an area where toyota and honda are way ahead. daniel: swiss chocolate maker lindt and sprungli say its biggest fans live in germany and britain. the company saw profits rise last year thanks in part to the sweet tooth of those two nations. but they were not the only countries feasting on the company's famous gold bunnies. global net profits were up

almost 8% in 2016. worldwide sales hit an all-time high with revenues of nearly 3.5 billion euros. back to brent now. and could germany be changing its tune? brent: depends on what gender you want to sing about. the german national anthem praises, among other things, the fatherland. but for how much longer? following a trend set by canada, some people here want to change the words to be more gender-neutral. it could give the country's soccer players a whole new song to mumble. reporter: germany's national soccer team players know the words of the national anthem by heart. as do the members of the german bundestag. but in the future, will they be singing another tune? this is the ministry of family affairs equal opportunities officer.

she wants to rewrite the anthem's lyrics to make them gender-neutral. then it would no longer be for the german fatherland, but instead for the german homeland. and instead of brotherly with heart in hand, courageously with heart in hand. ok, but how would it sound? >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ >> no, i don't know. why should we change the anthem or the lyrics, i wonder? i would not agree with that. >> i like it the way it is. it is traditional. >> this a 2018. it is ok to question these things and start these kinds of debates. i am totally for it. reporter: and what about the chancellor?

a german government spokesman says angela merkel is very happy with the anthem as it is. brent: all right, after a short break i will be back to take you through the day. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] xnóx

"america's heartland is made possibible by..." "croplife america. and it's member companies and associations in the crop protection industry including: the american farm bureau foundation for agriculture. more information at: agfoundation.org. sacramento's proud to be america's farm to fork capital visit: farmtofork.com i'm rob stewart. many consumers, are paying closer attention to issues about food safety when it comes to products making their way to your table. we will take you to california where issues around egg production are prompting changes in public perception and poultry production. hi, i'm sarah gardner. if you do some of your shopping at a local farmer's market, you're not alone. we'll take you to hawaii where one farmers market plays a roll in the kind of regional foods